Our Contorted World
by Lilcutie58
Summary: It was supposed to be a simple school transfer; an escape from the past and a road to the future for two brothers known as Riichi and Hansuke. "Supposed' being the operative word there. Now the only thing they were worrying about was getting out of the school year alive. It's going to take every last resource and relationship they have to keep them together...and keep them alive.
1. Prologue: This is Life Now

"Do you see anybody?"  
"It's five in the morning! What do you think the answer to that question is?"

 _Heartland Academy; it was a prestigious school that both parents and students alike were known to flock towards. The laid-back attitude and atmosphere that the teachers gave, as well as sustained, gave students room to breathe without fear of constant rules being piled onto their backs. With such a stable environment, the school's approval and graduation statistics were some of the highest in the country; a fact that has not been overlooked by a few thousand parents. Families have flocked from all over to get their children into the learning establishment; some for a chance to better improve their children's futures and others...needing a way to get away from their past._

 _So, with such an outstanding reputation, it makes you wonder just what the hell we're thinking breaking into the place?_

"God, this makes us look like a bunch of thugs! What's taking so long with that gate?"  
"It's this damn **key**! Fucking thing is acting all janky for some reason."

 _Well, the reason is a bit more complicated than "two misfit teens about to pull some juvenile pranks". You see, back at the start of the school year, my brother and I may have...ticked off the wrong people? It's all a blur, but what happened that day kinda cemented our high-school experience to be as panic-inducing and terrifying as you can imagine. We weren't able to hang around after school without risk of getting our asses beat, going out in public was a complete hassle even without getting seen and don't even get me started on what it's like during passing period. Not to mention, these two annoying pricks that like to hassle us about 'interviews' for their newsletter or blog or whatever the hell they run. Those little shits have gotten us into a few predicaments because of that stupid thing. But back to the matter at hand._

"Ah-ha, finally. I got it open, let's go."

 _We were able to coerce one of the janitors to give us keys to most of the school; out of all of the facility in this joint, the janitor is the only one that seems to understand how serious our situation is. He said that so long as we lock it back up when we enter the school grounds and don't cause any damage to a lick of property, we could come in as early as we want with his keys. Guy is retiring in about three months anyways, so he knew that if he got caught, there wasn't shit they could do to him. My kind of guy, really._

The iron-barred gate wasn't an old, rusty thing and we were thankful for it. Last thing we needed was for some unholy racket to sound off and wake up half the goddamn city. Both of us managed to slip inside without much hassle and I slipped my arms through the bars to re-lock the gates behind us. I found myself scanning the darkness for anything suspicious and was relieved to find nothing out of sorts. A simple thumbs-up signaled it was time to get a move on.

 _Anyways. We have to wake up before the sun's even up most mornings to get here before **they** do. At least this way, they can't be waiting for us at the start of school like they were before. Main reason we did this was because we were running out of ways to sneak inside with the crowd and those plans were already pretty….'extravagant'. I think there was one time we used trash cans as disguises._

The second key wasn't as stubborn as its brother and opened the doors with ease. It was always so creepy to see the place so deathly still; I've always associated schools with buzzing activity akin to a beehive, so seeing it before classes was more than a little disturbing to me. However, my brother, Riichi, saw it in a different light. Said something about how 'cool' it was to be able to see the school as a normal building instead of the 'epicenter of our collective doom'. That and he just loved being able to run up and down the halls without getting scolded by any of the teachers. Our destination didn't take long to get to; we knew that just running around the hallways until school was officially open wasn't the smartest thing to do. In fact, it's a sure fire way to get the police involved real quick. So, we built up a 'foxhole' in our little hideaway/clubroom; the school's boiler area. Despite what most people think about boiler rooms, this one is actually kept surprisingly clean. None of the janitors here were exactly slouches when it came to their work, so it made things easier for us.

 _Now, I bet you're wondering why the hell we're going to such drastic measures. One; those people I mentioned before, the ones we pissed off? They are part of a gang. Not one of those 'oh, we don't fit into the status-quo, so we're bad' kinda gang, but full on hardcore gang shit. Money, drugs, you name it and they've probably got their hands in it. Too bad we learnt this little tidbit of information when it wouldn't do us any good, otherwise it could've saved us from the gigantic headache we have now. You might've heard about them; "The Seven Barians", I think is the name they go by. Fuck if I know what "barian" means, but it's been known to invoke fear into the hearts of a fair amount of people. Which brings me to my second reason; we are below average. Most teens have a standard amount of strength on them, some going above and beyond in the name of sports. My brother and I have spent a good majority of our lives as couch potatoes, leaving almost no room for any muscle growth to happen outside of the natural. It has left us riddled with 'noodle arms syndrome'; we couldn't even take a fucking well-trained middle schooler let alone teenagers that get into gang wars on the monthly._

 _Sooooo. If we **don't** do this, we're fucked three ways from Sunday…._

"School doesn't start for another three hours and fifteen minutes. We can get some more sleep?" I suggested. A nod with a sleepy yawn was my answer. My feet dragged against the cold, cement floor as I shambled my way towards the darkest corner in the room. From out of the darkness, I pulled out a sizeable container before dragging it back over to where my bro was. If we got up at the crack of dawn everyday and kept ourselves awake out of sheer willpower till homeroom, we'd be asleep at our desks in seconds. So, we took some preemptive measures and tucked away little sleeping kits down here; it wasn't the warmest place around, but it was better than nothing. The minute Riichi situated himself against the soft comforter, he was snoring up a storm. Myself? I just couldn't do it. I mean! We are about to go to fucking sleep in the basement of our school, in a **boiler room** , because we were too fucking scared to go to school normally.

"How the hell did things get so fucked up?" I murmured underneath my breath, my hand resting against my eyes.

 _Bet that's what you're wondering too, right? Well, let me take you back through the harrowing months of high school we've lived so far. Through all the fear, the close calls and all of the drama that is customary in high school; **this** is our story._

* * *

[So, this is an idea I've wanted to write for a long time and I am proud to have a wonderful co-author to help me with finally putting it out there. This story will start off in a lighthearted 'ruh roh, Raggy' kind of tension with how they deal with everything before picking up into 'oh my god, we can actually die' territory. So, enjoy the fun while it lasts because shit will hit the fan eventually.]


	2. The Day We Fucked Up MurasakiNoAo

**[Riichi]**

The first day of school; a fresh new start and an opportunity to leave the past behind. That's what my brother and I were hoping for when we got into Heartland Academy. 'Hoping', being the key word here. But, in life, nothing turns out how you expect it to be and that fact of life certainly wasn't going to spare us from fate's twisted plans. The, oh so, twisted plans...

At first, everything was going normally. Hansuke - my younger twin brother by an hour (something I'll never let him forget) - and I walked to school from our home and split up to go to our respective classes. I had to admit that I was feeling a tad excited. We had transferred schools several times before coming to Heartland (hence the reason we were nineteen-year-olds in our senior year of high school) and yet every time the thought of experiencing new things made my heart pound in anticipation. I've always been far more outgoing than my twin and all this moving has been beneficial; new hobbies and activities were abound at every school we went to, so I could barely contain myself to learn more about Heartland Academy.

Well, it didn't take long for the excitement to wear down from the whole, "class is starting, so please shut the hell up," mood all of the teachers had. I even managed to catch a few Z's during math, something that, unfortunately, I was called out for once I started my habit of snoring.

It wasn't until after my second period did things finally start rolling. I was at my locker, getting out a textbook I definitely wasn't going to read but, hey, might as well do something to look as though I'm making an effort. Just as I was about to close my locker, a loud slam of another locker's door echoed throughout the hallway. Startled, everyone - including myself, of course, turned to see two boys, both of which were in my grade. The taller of the two was looming over the shorter one and from where I was standing… the shorty looked pretty damn cute. His hairstyle was certainly… unique, what with the two pink strands of hair sticking up front, but he kinda rocked it. Though, the sour expression on his face didn't do him any compliments.

"You know I'm the only one who will love you like I do, right, babe?" This taller guy was wearing a cheap leather jacket, which was against school dress code, but no one seemed to be calling him out for it. Plus, what was with _his_ hair? Looked like something exploded and blew it back, you know, just like in the cartoons. Not to mention, the baby carrot color he was wearing with it. He wrapped his arm around the smaller's shoulders and the latter flinched subtly. "Come on, you know you want me…"

I was walking towards them without fully realizing it. "Hey, Yuuma," it wasn't until that second when I started to talk did I finally recognize that the smaller kid had been in my math class last period. "You want to go head to our next class together?"

They stared at me like I was some kind of alien and honestly, I didn't blame them. I still don't really know what compelled me to confront them, or why I forcefully dragged this kid - Tsukumo Yuuma, his name was - out of the arms of this jackass looking guy and down the hall until we were out of sight. There was just something about the situation that made me feel like it was wrong, you know? Like an instinct.

I would have kept going too if it weren't for the abrupt way Yuuma stopped right in the middle of the hall. He took his hand back from mine and gave me a look that said he definitely didn't know me. This was proven by him asking in an accusing tone, "Who are you?"

To be honest, I was a bit hurt by that. Afterall, I remembered him from that one class we had _and_ saved him from a creep with bad fashion taste. "I'm Kyu Riichi. I'm in your math class. Don't you remember me? The one who was dozing off the whole time…?" All I got was a blank stare. I clicked my tongue. "Is this what I get for saving you back there?"

One of his elegant eyebrows rose. " _Saving_ me?"

"Yeah, from that creep."

"He's not a creep. He's my ex."

If I had been drinking something, it certainly would have been spewed all over Yuuma's face. " _Your ex_?!"

"Yes, my ex."

"But he was so… gross. Well, I guess I can see why you broke up with him, then."

He looked away and I saw something, some kind of emotion, flash in his pretty and uncommonly red eyes. "He's the one who broke up with me…"

I blinked once, then twice, then squinted. Something didn't click right away. "What?"

Yuuma seemed a bit angry now as his gaze whipped back at me. "You heard me. He was the one who broke up with me."

"... And now he wants to get back together again?"

"Apparently…"

It didn't take me long, thinking back to what that creep had said and how he had said it plus his body language as he loomed over Yuuma, to figure out exactly what his game plan was. Standard manipulative behavior; no wonder he was doing the whole 'nobody else would love you' bullshit… I crossed my arms, looked straight at the smaller boy in front of me, and gave him the piece of advice that would later simultaneously ruin and improve different aspects of my life.

"Do me a favor and stay away from…"

"Vector."

What a stupid fucking name. "Yeah, him. Stay away from him."

That same brow rose again. "Why?"

"Just trust me, ok?"

There was a pregnant pause as Yuuma considered it. "He's not going to like it, you know. You seem to be new around here since you don't know about Vector, but you should know that when he finds out - and he _will_ find out - that it was you who told me to avoid him, he's going to rain hell down on you."

Fueled by the overconfidence of a challenge, I smirked and cockily rubbed a finger under my nose. "I'd like to see him try."

If only I had listened to those damn words of advice.

It took less than half a day for this Vector guy to know what I had said to Yuuma. One thing I'll give that bastard is that he's got good connections that work _fast_. My final class had just ended and I was getting ready to finally leave, get home, and do absolutely nothing when I spotted a certain orange haired teen in that same cheap leather jacket out of the corner of my eye. His face was the same color as his hair and that would've been a hilarious sight if he hadn't been barreling towards me with a look that screamed, 'I'm going to kill you several times over, you fucker'.

So, I followed the only logical course of action available. I fucking booked it. I didn't know what he was hiding underneath that tacky jacket, but it was probably more than what I had to offer.

What this Vector didn't expect was that I was actually a pretty decent runner. It didn't take long for me to lose him in the crowd of students who equally wished to go home and for me - who foolishly thought that was the end of it - to laugh and came to a slow walk just as I reached the door that lead to the outside of the school.

Waiting for me was Hansuke. He leaned against the railing of the stairs and surprisingly, there was a motorcycle resting next to him.

"Who'd you steal that ride from?" I asked, stepping around him to get a better look at the beast. It was slick and sparkled a dark navy blue. I whistled. Damn was this thing nice.

"I didn't steal it from anyone. It was there when I got here." As always, my twin failed to get that I had been joking. Hansuke had the comedic capabilities of a monochrome boulder sometimes. The minute he saw me reach a hand to try and touch it, he snapped, " _Don't._ I really don't want to deal with the consequences of you breaking things again."

"But it's so _sweet!_ " I had temporarily forgotten that there was an angry carrot chasing me around school because I mean, who _wouldn't_ when there was such a beauty in front of them? Sure, it having only one tire was a momentum disaster waiting to happen, but still! "It must be a teacher's bike, or something. I mean, no one would let a student bring this in and just _park_ it here on the sidewalk, right?"

"All the more reason to leave it be. It's our first day here and so far I've kept a good face with the teachers." He crossed his arms and glared at me. "But… I've already heard that you're one of the worst new students they have. Sleeping in class, really? On the first day?"

I rolled my eyes. Not even a half hour after the final bell had rung and I was already getting a lecture. As he prattled on about the benefits of having a good first impression and all that boring ass shit, I took the time to get a better look at this motorcycle. Just one touch couldn't have hurt, right?

Unfortunately, Hansuke saw me making a move towards it and took a hasty step forward to swat me away. In his hurry to stop me, however, his foot caught on the kickstand and the whole thing came crashing down with a loud _clank_. An alarm started blare like crazy once it hit asphalt and drew the attention of quite a few students that were still hanging around.

We stood, frozen in our spots for a good solid minute, all color drained from our faces. Hansuke, being the one responsible, was quick to panic. "I - I can fix this!" He raced around to the other side of the bike and gently lifted it off the ground. Once we saw there wasn't any permanent damage to its sides, we exhaled in relief. Now, all Hansuke had to do was put the bike back in its original position and everything would be-

 _VVVVVVRRRRRRRRRRMMMMMMMMMM._

The two of us could only watch in horror as the motorcycle revved up, escaped Hansuke's grasp, and shot straight towards the light post not ten feet from us. It crashed, seemed to fly into the air, then slammed back into the ground. It didn't take a genius or even a good look at it to know it was fucked up. The entire front portion of it was crushed in a sort of accordion fashion, broken glass littered the area around it aaaaaaand it was actually smoking...

I took a deep breath and was about to say some choice words when someone behind us beat me to the punch.

" _WHAT THE FUCK?!"_

We turned around to see a teen at the top of the stairs, glaring down at us like we had just murdered someone he knew. He looked to be in our grade and it was easy to tell that he was the one who owned the bike that now lay broken on the side of the street. A weird octopus hairstyle was going on with him and the purple jacket he wore was designed with horrid amounts of diamond-shaped trinkets over it; but focusing on his fashion would be saved for another time when he didn't look like he was about to eat our hearts out.

Immediately, I jumped away from my brother and pointed an accusing finger. "He did it!"

Hansuke looked as though I had committed the worst of betrayals. I just felt it was right to get it out there, that's all! He mirrored my pointing, of course. " _You_ were the one who was drooling all over it in the first place!"

"Yeah, and _you_ were the one who knocked it the fuck over! _And_ you somehow managed to turn it on and make it slam into that light post _all_ the way over there?! How the fuck did you even do that?"

He looked at his hands. "How the hell should I know? One moment I had it, the next it was over there! I must have… done something when I was picking it up to turn it on… and then twisted my wrist to make it move?" He shook his head and glared at me. "But that's beside the point! I can't believe you would actually put all the blame on me. Your own twin brother? Your _younger_ twin brother?"

"Oh, so _now_ you play the age card, huh? And, 'beside the point' my ass! This wouldn't have happened if you had just decided to wait for me some other place. You know how much I love motorcycles."

"I thought that you could control yourself, but obviously that was a mistake!" Hansuke, without moving his gaze from me, took a step away from the stairs. I knew from the look in his eyes what he was planning and took my own step backwards.

"Honestly, I don't see how any of this is my problem right now. I never even touched the damn bike." Another step.

Hansuke followed with a small shuffle of his feet. "Of course this is your problem! We're _family_. We _share_ our problems!"

"Not these kind of problems! I'm sorry to say, _bro_ , but you're on your own in this. After all, it's getting late and-" A scurry of footsteps sounded from the top of the stairs and I looked to see none other than Vector running up to stand by the motorcycle guy. He looked 100 times more pissed than when I last saw him and it caused me to lose my train of thought. Must've never stopped looking for me. Go figure. "A-and… and it's… time to _fucking go_!"

We took off like our lives depended on it and frankly, they really were at stake. Behind us, we could hear the two chase after us and that sense of panic you get when you're being run down made our legs move faster than I think we've ever run before. Adrenaline is a hell of a drug.

"Who the hell is that other guy?" Hansuke yelled as we rounded a corner, ignoring the protests of people we shoved past.

Oh, yeah. "I guess I forgot to mention that I pissed him off and before I met up with you, he had been chasing me through the hallways."

" _Get back here you little pieces of shit!"_ The yell from behind only fueled us forward.

"You better fucking elaborate once we get home, Riichi!"

Oh, was I planning to.


	3. Run, Forrest, Run!

_To most people on that day, it was a regular Tuesday afternoon. Things were working in the systematic harmony that Heartland City ran on; litterbots scooped up the trash that people threw away onto the sidewalks, parents were leaving work to go home and spend quality time with their families. The sun was close to setting as the sky began to develop hues of purple and orange with stars beginning to shine through. All in all, it was wrapping up to be a beautiful ending to the day. Again, though, this is_ _ **most**_ _people. For me and Riichi, though, it was the beginning of the end. The beginning of an entire year of fear, panic and just inescapable misery! The amount of shit that we had to go through after this_ _ **one**_ _day, it just absolutely boggles my mind that these two have so much fucking time on their hands! They could read a book,_ _ **write**_ _a book, jerk off, do something that doesn't involve making our lives absolutely impossible to live every….fucking...day! That day will live in my memory for the rest of my time on this earth; if you could just imagine the amount of running and shitty parkour my brother and I had to do… I shaved off, like, five pounds alone! It was rough and, god knows things were only going to get tougher, but we didn't know that then._

 _After the trainwreck of a first school outing we had, do you know what that sunset meant? At_ _ **that**_ _specific moment in time? The end of that day just meant peace; sweet, beautiful, blissful_ _ **peace**_ _._

* * *

It was silent. Pure silence; not the kind that you expect to feel in a horror movie when the monsters are stalking around, hungering for your flesh. For the sixteenth time today, I thank god that the elevator the both of us were in had no music. If I had to listen to some tacky one verse song over and over again, I'd be liable to kill the nearest thing possible. And considering that thing would be my brother….well. Speaking of Riichi, I think it's suffice to say that he's more worse for wear than I am. I mean, **I'm** tired from running in my school uniform; the last leg of that chase, my bro had to work with a pair of cardboard boxer shorts after he lost his pants! The amount of chaffing he must've gone through….

 _DING!_

"Oooooooh! I don't wanna move, dude!"  
"I knooooow."

The second we got to our apartment building, both of us had collapsed against one another for support and slothed our ways inside of the elevator. Only way we managed to push the button for our floor was because there was a stick long enough to reach stuck inside of Riichi's box. With exhausted moans, we shambled out into the hall like a pair of zombies and worked our way to the apartment. It was a spacious studio apartment that we had managed to rent on the cheap; our landlady might be the saltiest piece of wrinkled flesh you'll ever lay eyes on, but I think she's got a sweet spot for the both of us.

"Do you got the key?"  
"No, we left them inside."  
"Why?!"  
"Because Kiyoshi should be-"

Almost on cue, our mutual friend swung open the door and damn-near tackle hugged the both of us. Kiyoshi was our first, and really only, friend here in Heartland City; when we had no clue where to go, where the school was, where pretty much anything was, he was there for us. After all he's done for us, it was only natural that we gave him a spare key to keep an eye on things while we were at school. And while being a mute didn't make him the best conversationalist, I suppose how expressive he is makes up for that. The grip that he has on our necks, for example, shows just how worried and pissed he truly is…

"TAP OUT! TAP OUT!"

* * *

Seeing Kiyoshi pacing in front of us is much like seeing a lion stalking around the Savannah. Riichi had changed into a pair of his pajama bottoms (after applying a bit of cream to some chafed areas) and I just stayed in my school uniform. Best to let the textual lashing come first before getting comfortable. We'd been dragged into the apartment and firmly planted onto our suede couch as the steaming mute paced. An air of concealed rage was seething underneath that cold exterior of his face and, frankly, that made it even scarier. You'd think that the guy who couldn't talk wouldn't be so intimidating, but goddamn! A deep sigh; our garnet-haired pal reached into the pocket of his hoodie to bring out the phone he used to communicate with before he typed a sentence. The screen was shown to us with robotic precision and I leaned over to read it.

 _[Would either of you like to explain why I've been waiting here, two hours past the time you said you'd be back?]_

Before a retort could be given, Kiyoshi started typing again.

 _[Or better yet; how about you explain why the hell you both look like you ran a marathon?]_

As we were about to answer, he began typing once more and showed us another question; this one, accompanied by an intense look of 'WTF'.

 _[Also, why was Riichi wearing a box?! Like, what the hell?!]_

My hands immediately went up in the surrendering position and Riichi consciously rubbed his thighs through his pajamas. Must've been the most affected area, not surprising with how that thing jostled around whenever he ran.

"Look, it's a long story. Our first day of school ended with a bit of a…"  
"Crash?" A snort was given at my twin's cheeky grin.  
"I was going to say **bang** , but-" A sigh, "-he's right. I'll explain the whole story in context some other time, but I can answer your questions."

* * *

"Will you pick up the pace?!"  
"I ain't built for this sprinter shit, dude!"

Pebbles kicked up underneath my school shoes as they slid across the sidewalk; my momentum carried me to the corner and I had to flail my arms about to keep from toppling over. This proved to be utterly futile as Riichi found it ever so tactful to slam into me and send us both sprawling to the ground like a fucking dumb nerd. The swift glare I gave him went unnoticed as the dumbass stuttered and pointed behind us. My face blanched and I hastily grabbed him by the back of his collar before sprinting off down some random street we'd never been down. We had no idea how the hell we were going to get back to the house, but the bright side to that is they wouldn't either.

God forbid they ever figure out where we fucking live…

"Stop fucking running, you pussies!"

"We respectfully decline your request!"  
"RIICHI!"

Dry coughs followed my exclamation; all this running was doing a damn good job of tearing my throat to pieces with the amount of air I've had to suck down it. I don't even wanna think about the condition my **lungs** must be in. A loud scream from my brother, whom I was still dragging, instructed me to actually start paying attention to where we were going. And we were heading right towards a busy intersection, oh joy. The movements my body made to stop itself could only be described as spastic and convulsive; people on the sidewalk sidestepped out of the way to avoid getting run down, but you know what's strange? THAT NOBODY TRIED TO FUCKING STOP ME FROM RUNNING INTO THE STREET! The pricks! Yet, God decided to show a little bit of pity on us and allowed the crosswalk sign to glow a life-saving green. Free of the fear of getting run over, I charged across the sidewalk and flung my lagging sibling in front of me. Tired of hauling him around.

"Oooh! Follow me!"

Without warning, Riichi diverts off the sidewalk and runs into some random alleyway for reasons only known to himself, so I had **no choice** but to follow.

"Quick, up here!"  
"What the fuck are you do-!"

Loud sounds of exertion left Riichi as he struggled to fling himself over some bastardized fusion of a chain link and wooden fence. Hearing a distinct shout of frustration, I bit back the sarcastic comment I wanted to make and gave him a harsh shove over. With far less difficulty, I soon joined him on the barren plot of asphalt and signalled for him to be quiet; the idiot was about to complain about how I had shoved him and I was **not** about to get caught for it. Footsteps rang out as Carrot Cake and Octodad managed to find their way into the alleyway, but didn't seem to come anywhere near the fence, thank god.

However, Riichi and I cowered behind the fence when we realized they weren't **going** anywhere either.

"Dammit, where the fuck did they go?" That was the voice of the blue guy and let's just say that he did not sound pleased in the slightest. "They can't just disappear."

"How should I know?" That must've been the orange guy, the one who Riichi had so brilliantly pissed off somehow. "I was just following my beloved leader, after all." Ah, sarcasm; my sweet mistress. An aggravated click of the tongue followed the remark.

There were sounds of pacing before the angry octopus started to talk again. "Why the fuck are you chasing them anyways? Don't you have anything better to do?"

"Hey, I've got my reasons like you've got your's."

"And what are those, exactly?"

The carrot muttered something I couldn't quite catch. I glanced at Riichi, but the idiot just pretended to examine a rock on the ground. **He** knows that **I** know that he couldn't give a shit about that rock, but knows I can't exactly call him out for it either. Note to self: beat the information out of him when we get somewhere safe.

"Ah." The two assholes were still talking. "Yeah, I can see you getting your shitty feathers riled up over that."

"I swear, if you weren't who you were, you'd be-"

"Dead? In your dreams."

I was...confused? Were they even **friends**? It sure didn't sound like they were, considering one of them was literally stating he'd kill them if not for who he was. And who exactly **was** he? Some rich kid whose parents had friends in soul-crushingly high places? Would certainly explain how he managed to get that bike, seeing as it took me three years, an arm and a leg to get my own beat-to-hell pick up truck… More pondering would have to be done in a less lethal environment.

"They can't have gotten that far. Probably hiding themselves away in some rat nest around here somewhere, fan out."

Their conversation over with, they both took off back down the alleyway and a massive wave of relief washed over me. Riichi, however, didn't seem to be as worried as he should've been. Just another thing to chew him out about once we got home.

"We gotta get a move on. No doubt they're going to circle around back to some places we passed, this could be our only chance."

"You're right! For once! Let's roll!'

Right when I was about to call him out on that little remark of his, we both heard a loud clatter from the other side of our hiding place. Our bodies stiffened so fast I think I pulled about twenty different muscles; a million possibilities ran through my head at what the sound could've been. Had we started talking when they weren't completely out of earshot?! Was there some type of hidden entrance to this place and they decided to check it out?! Or maybe it was the rightful owner of the property that wouldn't be none too pleased with two teenagers on his land?! On the cusp of a mental breakdown, my worries were swiftly dispelled once I saw what had caused the noise.

"Awww~! It's a puppy~!"  
"Hansuke, that is a full-grown bull mastiff. And one that is growling at us."  
"...Wait, what?"

The hearts in my eyes dissipated when I realized that Riichi was right. As cute as the behemoth was, he didn't seem to find us lounging around in his territory cute at all. Every sharp tooth and canine in that dog's mouth was out on full display as he treaded ever closer to us. Figures, we lose the two assholes chasing us, only to have to deal with this? God must be having a field day orchestrating this shit. My internal vows of converting to atheism were halted by savage barking getting closer and closer to our position. With shrill screams, we kicked up dirt in our haste to avoid getting our heads bit off and ran to the west-side of the lot. Being the more athletic between the two of us (though not by much), I got to the fence first and vaulted over like an olympic medalist. Riichi, on the other hand?

 _ **RIIIIIIIP!**_

Not so lucky. A screech that I could only describe as otherworldly rang out from my brother's lips as the entire back of his pants ripped off of his body. The only way I could describe what he was stuck wearing now is what one would expect a bootleg pair of assless chaps to look like. Mortified was what I would call Riichi's expression and, honestly, I can't really blame him. A deep breath was taken to prepare for the inevitable freak out, but before he could go into full "hissy fit" mode, we both heard something that made our blood run cold.

"Hey, I see them! They're on the other side of the lot!"  
"OH SHIT!"

Carrot tried to launch himself over the fence, but our furry friend kept him at bay. An irritated sneer was thrown at us before he rushed out of sight real quick, no doubt to get his fellow tormentor and circle around to our position. Immediately, my sibling started to wig out and covered his exposed behind. "Ah fuck, what am I going to do, dude?! I can't just run around town with my ass hanging out; that's a public indecency fine that we can't afford to pay!" I checked behind him to see if there was a way to salvage the ripped fabric, but alas. It was now being used as a chew toy by the giant dog we had eluded, so there goes that idea. We had precious moments to figure this out before those two hellraisers got to us, so I grabbed the closest thing next to me and shoved against him.

"...A box?"  
"Yes, put it on."

"I can't run around in a fucking box! I'll look like a goddamn lunatic!"  
"Yeah?! Well, you can't get a fine for being crazy! Put it on!"

* * *

"I know it sounds extravagant, unbelievable and all around extra, but…."

I couldn't continue my sentence; Kiyoshi's expression resembled what I believe a human would look like if they just learned an entire army of assassins had been assigned to kill them. **That** was how scared he looked and never in the time we've known our mutual friend have we **ever** seen him scared of anything. After being chased by two lunatics with questionable tastes in hairstyles all around town, one screaming about how he was going to use his knife to 'sound' us, **this** had to be the scariest part of the day.

Kiyoshi whipped out his phone with the speed of lightning and frantically began typing.

 _[Guys do you aha ve any idefa who those two were?!]_

A mutual glance between my brother and I. "Um," Riichi spoke up, "no?"

 _[Thye are aparat of the SEVEN BARIANS! A viciosu gan g tha t has contorol over most antythign illegal in the city!]_

 _And that's all I remember. Mainly because after I read that particular text? I fainted._


	4. Icognitbros MurasakiNoAo

**[Hansuke]**

By the time I had awoken from my blackout, it was already past eight. Kiyoshi had long gone home and had apparently shut up about the whole "Seven Barians" gang thing according to Riichi. Honestly, who says that kind of shit then refuses to say anything more about it?! Fortunately, that left my oh so wonderful brother with no other topic to talk about except the one where he explained why the fuck some orange haired punk was chasing him on the first day of school.

"You should have seen him, Hansuke." Riichi was lounging on my favorite chair and was dangerously close to falling over with how far he was leaning away from my desk. "He was all over this poor kid. Yuuma was his name. Pretty cute, definitely didn't deserve all the shit this guy was spouting at him. You could tell he was only in it for the sex."

My mouth, which had been poised to tell him to sit properly before he broke my chair, snapped shut in an instant. "Only in it for the sex…?" I parroted like an idiot. No doubt my face was drained of any color, but Riichi didn't seem to notice it.

"Yeah, only in it for the sex. Damn, I really hate those kind of people. So, naturally, I told Yuuma to stay away from him - Vector, the carrot guy. But, once he figured out I was the reason Yuuma wasn't-"

But at that point, I had stopped paying attention to him. Flashbacks to a previous school, a previous life were rushing in my mind. I had done some… regrettable things that Riichi didn't know. Couldn't know. Things that, if he did know, would tear a canyon in our relationship, one I couldn't even begin to think on how to bridge. My mouth was dry as Riichi rambled on. It wasn't the right moment to tell him, though, so I stayed silent, grunting occasionally to let him know I was still half listening.

Once he was finished, I tried to give him a tongue lashing for his stupidity and useless ability to make enemies so quickly, but it didn't have any heart in it. He got the message, though, and as soon as I was done, he left my room to go order some takeout for dinner.

I had a headache for the rest of the night.

* * *

The next morning required careful planning since neither of us particularly wanted to die when we were just nineteen. We called over Kiyoshi to pick us up in his car; if I drove in my truck, we'd be targets whenever we went for a drive. Though, getting into a white van didn't seem like a better alternative. When asked why exactly he had a white van instead of a more less suspicious looking vehicle, the mute would only wave us off and say he required a lot of room to move around his equipment, whatever that meant.

Riichi and I rock-paper-scissored to see who would sit in the only available front seat while the other hung on to dear life in the back when Kiyoshi went rampant down the streets. I threw down paper and let's just say that during the ride, I wished I had an actual paper bag with me. It was amazing how he hadn't gotten into an accident… yet.

Kiyoshi was instructed to go around back to drop us off so that we wouldn't draw too much attention. Plus, seeing two high schools coming out from a white van with tinted windows didn't sell for the ideal image and no one wanted to get the cops involved. Our friend was going to just leave after we got out of the van, but I paused. Before heading into the lion's den, I needed to at least know _who_ the lions were.

I had to squeeze myself through the gap between the two front seats to reach Kiyoshi and stop him from getting ready to leave. He looked at me with questions in his eyes and bit of hesitancy, like he knew what I was about to do. Didn't stop me from doing it, but I did let a quick moment pass so he would be ready for it. It also allowed me to prepare, too, since I didn't want to faint again just before school started.

"Who is this… 'Seven Barians' group you mentioned yesterday?" Riichi stopped, already halfway out of the van, and turned to face Kiyoshi as well. "How are those two who chased us yesterday connected with them?"

It took a while for Kiyoshi to gather up his thoughts and bring out his phone with shaking hands. I read aloud for Riichi as he began to type.

" _The Seven Barians Gang is the most dangerous gang in Heartland. They deal with almost everything illegal that happens around here._ " I frowned and interjected, "Yeah, you told us this yesterday. What else is there about them?"

"Hey, just let him type, we're in a bit of hurry, y'know." Riichi muttered from beside me. Always quick to rush to his defense, that Riichi. He had climbed back up into the van and was leaning over to read the text, so I figured continuing to read it outloud would just annoy him. Kiyoshi continued to type.

 _[Well, the guy with the bike that Hansuke destroyed]_

"Not my fault, by the way."

 _[was probably the leader of the gang. His name's Kamishiro Ryouga, but everyone calls him 'Shark'.]_

Riichi scrunched up his nose. "What the hell is with these guys and their weird ass names?"

"Code names?" I offered weakly and was met with a scoff.

 _[The other one is, as you know, Vector. He plays a big part in their gang and thinks he should be the one to lead them, which is why you overheard them fighting like that.]_

Riichi and I hummed an acknowledgement before he asked, "So, why the hell is their name, like, Seven Bari-whatevers?"

 _[Cause there's seven of them who run the gang.]_

"I thought you said that Shark guy was the leader."

 _[He is. He's the main leader who oversees everything. The other six run parts and try to focus on their part and their part alone. Or… I guess that's what they're supposed to do.]_

I raised an eyebrow at Kiyoshi, who couldn't see it because of how he was looking at anything other than my brother and I. "How do you know all of this? It's almost like-"

Before I could finish, Riichi let out a shout after looking at his phone. "Shit, man, it's already almost time to get to class! We gotta _go_." And with that, he leapt back out of the van, pulled me from the back, and said a quick goodbye to Kiyoshi. I gave him a glare that said that the conversation wasn't over, but the mute was already putting his van into drive and staring straight ahead.

Riichi was still pulling me forward towards one of the back entrances to Heartland Academy and he would have kept going straight into the hornet's nest if I hadn't forced us to stop.

"Are you forgetting that two very high ranking people from a very dangerous gang are looking for our asses in there?" The sheepish look I got confirmed it and I sighed. Some things never change and as if to prove my point, my bro dropped down into a squat, an arm slung around his face in some cheap impression of a ninja, eyes squinted in faux determination. It's like babysitting a four year old that never leaves with this guy.

"Don't worry, bro," he turned swiftly around, as if he had heard a suspicious noise. "I'll sneak right past them. Won't even know what hit them."

"Please take this seriously."

After somehow getting Riichi to stand up like a normal person so we wouldn't attract any unwanted attention from, well, _anyone_ , we made our way inside. We glanced around the hallways and once we were certain there was no sign of bright orange or blue hair, we started to creep down to our respectful classes, sticking to the sides of the hallway rather than walking right down the middle with the rest of the crowd.

Soon, we reached the point where we had to split up. Riichi was insistent that he would be fine without my help, but I couldn't help but worry. Though he was a pain in the ass, he was still my twin brother.

And as I watched him slink across the wall and almost run straight into an opening door, I wasn't so certain that the next time I saw him he'd be in one piece.

My journey to my first class went fairly easy up until I rounded the final corner. Somehow, that 'Shark' guy must have figured out my schedule because he was standing across from my art class' door with the nastiest scowl you could imagine on his face. Panicked, I dove back around the corner I had come from, hoping he hadn't spotted me.

Honestly, I had no idea what to do. There was no doubt that the fucker would stay there until I showed myself to him, but if I did that, I was royally screwed over. No way was I going to run for my life two days in a row.

I was so engrossed in my own thoughts that I didn't notice someone approaching me until it was too late.

"Hansuke! Good morning!" came the chipper call along with a light tap on my shoulder and, surprised out of my wits, I may or may not have shrieked in absolute terror.

Thankfully, it was not the Octo-Fucker or the Carrot Shithead. Instead, it was my classmate Chitaro Ariga and we both had our first class - art - together. He sported his usual turquoise beret and was of course holding onto his beloved sketchbook. It was, in fact, the sketchbook that made me give him the nickname 'Arty' because he always carried it around (and I was also bad at remembering people's actual names, but he didn't have to know that).

Quickly, I recovered from my shock by clearing my throat. "Good morning…" Honestly, I didn't know whether or not I liked Arty. Though he was friendly and I had talked to him for some of the time in class the day before, he also gave off this… weird vibe. I mean, the guy had literal _pointed ears_ like some kind of elf! But he had been the only decent looking person in my class, believe it or not, so now he was more or less my friend.

"What are you doing here? Class is about to start soon."

It was then, looking at Arty's sketchbook, that I came up with a plan that, I'll admit, wasn't one of my best.

"Hey," I started, ignoring his question all together, "I heard that, uhm, that guy over there" - I pointed to Shark, who still stood with his arms crossed having not heard my embarrassing shout a moment earlier - "wants to talk to you about that, uh, modelling thing you mentioned yesterday."

Arty had been looking for someone to model for his new project; some kind of comic involving superheroes. He had asked if I wanted to help him, but I declined, not wanting to waste any of my precious time sitting in front of someone for however long it took. He had been disappointed, but understood and didn't bother me further about it and now, hearing that someone was actually interested, his eyes lit up like a Christmas tree.

"Really?" He glanced over to where I was pointing and I saw that light get instantly squashed with fear. Apparently, this Shark guy actually was someone known to be locally feared. "O-oh… Are you… sure it was him who said that?"

I nodded and lied straight through my teeth. "Oh, yes, I'm sure! I heard he's always wanted to be a superhero." Deep down, I knew that it was a bad idea. Sending poor Arty to distract Shark while I snuck into class could easily go wrong in many, many ways. Not to mention, it was somewhat morally wrong. But, it was my only option! No way was I going to let some punk get in the way of me passing my classes and finally escaping the hellhole of high school.

Seeing that Arty was still hesitant and that time was running out before the bell would ring, I hastily pushed the other boy towards the blue freak. "Go on then! Before class starts!" And so he stumbled over, nearly bumping right into the gang leader. I saw Arty try to say something - maybe an apology of some sorts - but once I saw that Shark's eyes had moved from the door to my now probably dead friend, I fucking booked it.

And, by some miracle, it worked. Shark was too busy dealing with Arty blabbing at him to notice that I had slipped successfully into the classroom right as the first bell of the day rang. Too scared to get caught at the last minute, I didn't look back to see what would happen to Arty. All I knew was that he didn't show up for that class.

As the teacher did rollcall, I clasped my hands together and thanked him for his sacrifice, silently praying for his safe return.

* * *

 **[Riichi]**

If there was one thing I knew about my brother, it was that he was the world's biggest worrywart. He'd give himself a heart attack over the simplest things and our situation probably wasn't the best for his health.

So, since he was so worried and sure that I was going to be dead meat by the time the school day was done, I made especially sure to prove him wrong.

Everything went well after Hansuke and I went our separate ways (not including my almost collision with a door that might have broken my nose). Then, halfway to my class, I heard it.

"WHERE THE FUCK IS HE?! WHERE THE FUCK IS THAT LITTLE SHIT?!"

Someone wasn't happy and I recognized that voice to be none other than the orange piece of shit, Vector. It wasn't long before he came into view and - by some sort of grace - I was right by my locker. Not thinking of any other way of escape, I fumbled with the lock, threw it open, and climbed my way inside. I never really kept much of anything in my locker, so it was an easy fit, more or less. And then, I held my breath.

It was hard to tell exactly where Vector was from in the locker. I couldn't see much from the slits and he quieted down after his shout, so I couldn't hear him. Plus, there were other students still milling around that blocked any chance of a clear view of the hallway that I could get. For a few seconds, I thought of staying in there until I knew for sure that the coast was clear, but then again, Hansuke would find out that I was skipping class, start to yell at me and I _really_ didn't need another lecture from him, so I waited for only a few minutes. Once my watch told me it was a minute left before the bell rang, I slowly opened my locker door and peered out.

I must have had the worst luck because right as I poked my head out, Vector was there at the end of the hallway. It seemed like he was just about to give up on finding me when our eyes met and his purple - fucking _purple_ of all colors - ones flared up in newfound anger.

I was fucking fucked.

The next half minute flew by in a somewhat blur. I scrambled out of my locker, not even bothering to lock or even close it, and sprinted in the complete opposite direction than where I was supposed to be headed (my first class of the day). I heard footsteps quickly following me and I could swear that my heart was in my throat and threatening to jump out of my mouth.

I hadn't paid attention to where I was going, however, because the next thing I realized was that I had reached a dead end. What kind of a school had a hallway that led to a fucking dead end of all things?! The only place I could go to would be into a janitor's closet off to my right, but I really didn't want to hide in there because really, who knows what lays in the deep depths of a janitor's closet. I certainly didn't want to find out, so my half working brain supplied something better and perhaps just as - if not more - stupid.

There wasn't much time before Vector caught up with me, so I had to act fast. Thankfully, the closet was one that anyone could lock and unlock with a simple twist (really, Heartland Academy was too trusting a place) so my plan would work. I unlocked the door and flung it open, making sure it flung into the wall to make a very loud noise before closing it shut with another equally loud noise. Then, I did a 180 and ducked behind a, yes, a trashcan.

Brilliant, aren't I?

Fortunately, Vector was too lost in his own rage to properly think things out. He had heard the door slamming open and shut and upon seeing the dead end, came to the conclusion that I must have been inside the janitor's closet. Not looking around at his surroundings, he actually went straight into the closet. Sucker!

Before he could figure out that there was nobody but him in that small, dark area, I jumped from my hiding spot and shut the door as his back was still to me.

Hearing the sound of the door lock and finally being free from my tormentor, let me tell you, was the best feeling I'd ever had.

The next sound brought along the worst feeling, however, because it was the bell signalling the start to a class I was nowhere near. After checking to make sure the angry carrot inside, who was slamming himself against the door in attempt to break free, couldn't actually get out, I began the long run back the way I came.

Morning 01. Twins: 1. Barians: 0.

* * *

Read and Review, please and thank you!


	5. Information Granted

"You fucking did **what?!** "

Eyes were turned our way as I winced at the volume of my brother's shout. A pinky finger came up to try and dig away the ringing in my ear, but it only brought small relief and I was surprised I didn't find blood underneath my nail when I pulled it out.

The deed had been done; the Kyu twins had managed to survive their second morning of high school with no life-threatening injuries to our persons! And it was partially thanks to **me** locking one of our mutual tormentors in a closet for the entirety of the school day. However, my delightful brother didn't seem to see the beauty in my strategy.

"Calm down, calm down! I didn't have any other options! Aside from getting the shit kicked out of me, that is."

As usual, my logic didn't crack through into Hansuke's caveman skull as he started to pace back and forth. His eyes were wide, skin pale and getting paler by the second and sweat was already starting to develop on his brow. I'm not even sure why he's the one that's so worried about this; **I'm** the one that Vector's after, so why the hell was he the one stressing about it? Such a worrywart…

"Do you have no sense of self-preservation inside that thick skull of yours?! What happens when he gets out?!"

"Who says he **has** to?"  
"...Riichi. What the fuck are you talking about?"

"If he just stays in the closet, that's the end of….half of our problem."

There was an eternity of silence from Hansuke as he turned his head down to the floor in the stereotypical prayer position, hands folded and everything. A deep inhale was swiftly followed by a soft exhale before Hansuke responded.

"Riichi. The janitors….still use the closet, you know."  
"...Oh. Right."

Okaaaay, so that wasn't the brightest moment I've ever had. To be honest, the whole thing wasn't the best display of his intelligence, but whatever! I focus on fixing the problems in the present and save the future problems for future me. Some might say that it's an extremely asinine way to deal with one's problems, but it didn't fail me when I had two papers, a project and a speech to do, so I see no need to change it now!

"Let's just go. Let's just go before I end up having a fucking heart-attack from all this stress."  
" _ **WHERE IS HE?!"**_

Both of our faces were blanketed with white at the enraged scream. Well, sounds like the janitor had to get a mop bucket out of the closet a little earlier than anticipated…

"Also **that**. Gotta get out of here before **that** gets to us." And thus, we booked it into the city.

Heartland City was a bustling hive of opportunity and merriment; you could always find something new and exciting to take part in. There was a little piece of everything for everybody wherever you looked. A surprising amount of museums and architectural wonderment was reserved for those that were more artsy and cultured. For the night owls and rambunctious troublemakers, there was no shortage of nightclubs and concerts to go let loose in. Nothing ever stayed the same in Heartland, so nobody ever really fell into a specific routine.

And then there are the basic bitches like my brother and moi.

We've been going to same rinky dink cafe that's been swallowed by this city ever since we came here. It was quietly minding its own business from everyone, secluded and just barely keeping itself afloat with what it had to work with. The irony isn't lost on us, we assure you.

"Huuuuuh! Get us the usual, Maggie."

Hansuke didn't even lift his head off of our outdoor table to order, but our waitress understood what was asked. And even she didn't, she would know what to get anyways since it's always the same fucking thing; a double shot espresso as bitter as dirt for my brother and a giant cup of caramel frappucino so sweet it makes your heart go "whoo!" for yours truly. A low whine resonating from my disgruntled twin made me turn my attention to him once more; his hands were tangled into his hair and I could see him adding pressure onto his forehead. Time to hear him gripe some more.

"What the fuck are we going to do, dude?"  
"About the whole gang members trying to kill us or is there something else I'm missing here?"

Hansuke managed to muster up a half-decent glare from his downtrodden perspective as our drinks were delivered. I tend to wait for mine to cool down a bit to avoid scalding my tongue, but my brother immediately dives right into his steaming cup of pain. He takes the burning like a champ, though, so I can't help but envy him for that..

"We can't keep doing this all year! They already know where our classes are, so they'll always be waiting for us. I had to send some innocent kid to his death just to get to my first hour!"

Poor Artie; I'll admit that Hansuke has a greater grasp on his morals than I do when it comes to ethic problems like these, so I know he feels genuinely bad about doing what he did. I, however, think when it comes down to the nitty gritty of the situation, my main priority should be in preserving my own life first and foremost. So if that means throwing somebody to the sharks, quite literally in this case, then that's the way things have got to be! But I know my bro and I could tell this was **seriously** bugging him, so I gave him a reassuring pat on the noggin.

"Don't worry too much about it, Hansuke. I mean, you don't think the guy would be stupid enough to try and commit murder on school grounds, do you?"

"Well, he **did** name himself Shark."

"...Granted. But if he had actually pulled through with it, the police would've been called. So the guy's still alive, obviously."

Unless, of course, the guy's gang connections run so deep that he got somebody to dispose of the body discreetly before anybody noticed, but I kept that thought to myself. I'm trying to cheer my bro up, not pile more anxiety onto him, after all. My hand reached over to rub between his shoulder blades some and a hum of thanks was my reward. It was a technique I perfected to soothe from way back in our kid days; happy to see that I haven't lost my touch since then.

"Thanks, Riichi. But we seriously need to put some thought into how we're going to get to our classes from now on."

"Ah, how bad can it be? There's two of them and two of us, so we're even."

And in that moment...we remembered one very crucial thing about this situation. Both of our eyes dilated and I could hear Hansuke's coffee hitting the concrete as it missed his agape mouth. That gang our two assholes were a part of...was called the **SEVEN** Barians. There were five other people that we have no idea about; no clue where they were, no clue what they **looked** like and absolutely **no idea** about what their fighting capabilities were.

"...Oh christ alive, no."

"I'm gonna lose it, Riichi."

"God, why?!"

"I am going to lose my fucking mind, Riichi."

"WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?!"

"...I think I just lost it."

* * *

Kiyoshi must've been expecting us to come barging into his humble abode because right before our charging forms rammed into his door, it magically opened and sent us rushing right into his couch. Since I was in front, I did a total somersault onto the cushions that made my feet almost kick the back of my head while Hansuke just rammed his kidneys into the armrest. As we both groaned in pain from our recent injuries, our friend plonked two bowls of our favorite ice cream in front of us before taking a seat on the couch directly in front of us. Being able to see through the haze of pain, I noticed a distinct look of apprehension on his face. His eyebrows were knitted together, mouth displaced in a crooked fashion and just looked like he'd rather be at the bottom of the ocean than dealing with us. It...kinda made me feel bad. Hansuke, however, wanted answers and when he wanted them, he made sure he got them.

"Alright, Kiyoshi! Fess up; what aren't you telling us about this 'Seven Barians' gang and how do you know so much about them?!" As loud as he was, my brother's voice was wobbly from the pain that must've still been making waves through his body, so it got a little chuckle from me.

There was a small flinch from the man in front of us before he rooted around in the pocket of his jeans. A crumpled, folded piece of paper was pulled out and tossed over to Hansuke since he was the one that was anxious to answers; Kiyoshi crossed his arms and sat there, waiting for what was on that paper to be read. This was a big red flag; he **always** used his phone to chat with us since it was often faster, so when he wrote stuff down….it was because his hands were shaking too much to properly type.

"H-Hey. If this drudges up some bad memories or something, you don't have to-"

A hand being brought up silenced me quickly. A flick of the fingers told us everything we needed. In a parallel to the antsy tone he had had a few seconds before, my twin opened the paper cautiously, almost like he was scared that it would jump up and punch him in the face. I hovered over his shoulder to get a peek at what had been written.

 _You're no doubt wondering about the rest of the Seven Barians gang. And how I know so much about them. I could see the suspicion clear as day on Hansuke's face before you guys ran off into the school; still don't get why you go, you're old enough to get jobs now, but whatever. Listen...before I met you guys….I was involved with the Seven Barians for a short time._

"WHAT?!"  
"Keep reading! There's more!"

 _It happened about two, three years ago. The gang was just starting out, but their rep was building up faster than anyone had anticipated from a group of middle-schoolers. I was living somewhere else, all alone, minding my own business when next thing I know; Gilag and Alito, the muscles of the gang, were kicking my door in._

"Gilag and Alito. You ain't doing nothing, write these names down. Chop chop!"  
"Alright, chill it out!"

 _Apparently, a big ruckus had been caused down on their turf; some upstarts had been trying to muscle in on it and one of them named me as the head conspirator. I was handled, none too gently, down to the docking warehouse where they were situated at the time and introduced to all of them. Nasch, Vector, Merag, Mizael, Durbe, Alito and Gilag. Those are the Seven Barians._

"Write that down! Write that down!"

"Will you focus on the emotional trauma our friend was put through for two seconds?!"

 _I told them, well typed at them, that I had no idea what they were going on about and that I wanted to go home. They told me my name had been implemented by one of the offenders and...he was brought in front of me. Beaten all to hell and bloody, I could make out enough features to realize that it was a regular at the clothing store I had currently been working at. I asked how many people had been with him when he "attacked" and there were three more perpetrators. It didn't take an epiphany for me to deduce that the three people had to have been the asshole's friends, so I told them where they usually hung out. I didn't want to, but they dragged me into this mess and I wasn't about to take the rap for them._

 _However, to prove that I was on the straight and wasn't setting them up for some kind of ambush or something, it was decided that I'd go with them and point out the culprits. I ended up riding with them to the mall I had worked at and Mizael, head of the drug dealing ring, escorted me inside. It wasn't long before we pinpointed the hooligans, causing a big mess in the cafeteria. Obviously they were just some upstart punks looking to cause a bit of chaos, but smart enough to try and pin someone else if things got serious. When they saw me with Mizael, neither of us looking too pleased, they bolted for the back of the mall to escape. With the rest of the gang waiting back there, they didn't get far._

 _All three of them spilled their guts within seconds and I was free to go. This bugs me a lot because….all four of them wound up in the hospital with some severe injuries. And it was like, whoever did it to them, knew_ _ **exactly**_ _what their limit was. Knew how bad to hurt them, but not enough to where they would die from them. It's a particular event in my life that I never wanted to think of again...that is until you two somehow managed to piss off two of their members._

Now, I felt really guilty. Kiyoshi had already been stuck dealing with these clowns once before and here we are, dragging him into our mess when he had thought he'd gotten away. Though, he wasn't saying anything, I'm sure Hansuke felt the same way as myself right now…

"Ah, listen man. I'm….I'm sorry I was busting your balls over this information. I just wanted to know what you knew, so we could keep ourselves safe. I-I didn't want to-"

Before I could open my mouth to give out my own apology, we're both startled by the gigantic hug our friend envelopes us in and nearly get knocked down to the floor. As usual, his actions speak a million words.

"Thanks for telling us all this. You're the best friend we could ask for, but-"  
"What 'but', Hansuke?"

"-now that we have names to look up and look out for….how are we going to avoid seven people all at once?"

* * *

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	6. Mall Shop Blitz MurasakiNoAo

**[ Hansuke ]**

It was a miracle, honestly, that we survived that first week of school at all. Of course we didn't do it without serious thinking of our every move - or, well, _my_ every move, seeing that Riichi still somehow failed to see the seriousness in the situation and wouldn't stop making jokes about sneaking around the school like a fucking ninja. Those were the times I wished sincerely that my dear brother would _grow the fuck up_ because this was a matter of life and death.

Yet, somehow, we managed to make it without either one of us running into those Seven Barian shits. We hadn't even met any of the other 'Barians' or whatever they were called, which had me increasingly uneasy as the week progressed. You would think that the Shark and the Carrot would get more of their allies on the job to find us, but that hadn't happened… quite yet.

In any case, I wasn't just going to sit around and wait for them to jump us. Them being a gang that sent even Kiyoshi shivering in fear, I assumed that they knew or at least would come to know where we lived, no matter how hard we tried to avoid them.

So, I did what any other sane and well reasoned person would do in such a scenario.

I started to plan placing boobie traps all over our apartment, Home Alone style.

Riichi had, not surprisingly, found it amusing and joined me in drawing out the blueprints, adding his own terrible drawings and notes in the side margins of the notebook paper we were using. And we were going to do them all until Kiyoshi came over to visit unexpectedly and almost set off a trap that would have had all his hair gone in an instant.

After that it was determined we needed to get out of the house and out of our heads for a little bit. Which is how we ended up at the closest mall a few hours later, small purchases in one hand as I cradled a smoothie with the other.

We came to the food court and I nearly groaned in relief as I plopped myself down in the nearest chair. It had been a few hours since we arrived at the mall and not once had we taken a fucking break, Riichi and Kiyoshi wanting to get to as many stores possible before our inevitable return home. It felt like my feet were falling off from the ankles.

Riichi and Kiyoshi were about to take the seats next to me when some kind of sound arose from a different part of the mall.

"What is _that_?" Riichi asked, hovering just over the chair with his head turned an awkward angle towards the noise. "Sounds like a mix of nails on chalkboard and a humpback whale."

Of course that elicited a huff of amusement from Kiyoshi followed by the guy typing something out on his phone. He showed it first to Riichi and, without waiting for a response (because they were _that_ fucking in sync), turned the screen for me to read.

 _[Wanna go check it out?_

 _We'll be back, Hansuke.]_

Before I could tell them that it was probably just some brat screaming their head off over something they wanted, the two were off galavanting to investigate. I would have indulged them a bit if the chair I was in wasn't currently the most comfortable thing I had ever sat on. So, I let them go with only one annoyed sip to my smoothie.

At least I had the break I wanted along with a welcomed bout of alone time.

Though, honestly, I shouldn't have been as surprised as I was when, not even five minutes after Riichi and Kiyoshi left, I spotted the dreaded shape of spiky blue hair. The moment after, matching sharp blue eyes connected with my own gaze.

" _Fuck_ …" And with that, I abandoned my comfortable spot along with my half filled smoothie in favor for running for my life. Again.

* * *

 **[ Riichi ]**

It was just some brat screaming their head off over something they wanted.

Kiyoshi and I probably should have thought that it would be the case, but like hell we were going to pass up an opportunity to bare witness to a scene only few could ever say they had. I was personally hoping for some loose wild animal to be bolting out of some security guards' grasp in a fit of rage, but we can't all get what we really want, now can we.

We were just heading back over to lazy-pants Hansuke and to let him in on the specific details we had picked up while observing the whole incident (like how the child had tried to guilt their parent into letting them get the toy, then resulted to shouting how unfair everything was when that didn't work, etc. etc.). However, when we reached the spot where we had left my dear brother, he was nowhere to be found. On the table lay his smoothie, its sticky contents spilling over and onto the ground. Even the chair Hansuke had been sitting in seemed to have toppled onto its side.

Kiyoshi and I shared a glance once the scene was fully evaluated.

Either Hansuke was in a _real_ big hurry to go to the bathroom, or he was in _real_ big trouble. It wasn't that hard to figure out which was true.

(Even though we did poke our heads into the nearest restroom, just to check).

* * *

 **[ Hansuke ]**

It had taken long, grueling minutes of nonstop running and dodging people in the mall to finally get Shark off of my back long enough for me to slip into a clothing store to hide. After I ducked behind a clothes rack with only the vaguely annoyed attention of the teen manning the cashier on me, I noticed with relief that I still had my phone in my pocket.

My fingers were still a bit jittery from leftover adrenaline, but I eventually managed to unlock it and see a text from Riichi already there waiting for me.

 _[Where did u go ?]_

It had been sent only a minute ago. Why the fuck had it taken them that long to find out I was missing?

Biting back my frustrations, I typed back a reply.

 _[That bastard shark guy spotted me and gave chase. I think I lost him, tho I don't know how long that'll last so please hurry and help me get out of here]_

Thankfully, the next text was sent almost immediately afterwards.

 _[Dam ok where r u ?]_

That was… a good question. One that I did not have the answer for. A soft, but heartfelt string of curses left my lips as I typed.

 _[Oh god I didn't even check the store name when I burst in running. I can go ask the person who works here if]_

I could have sworn I had a heart attack when I peered over the rack of clothing to check if the coast was clear, only to see that it wasn't clear in the slightest. Shark stood, panting and out of breath outside of the store I was currently using as a refuge. In my panic, I had accidentally hit the send button on my unfinished message to Riichi.

Of course by doing that, I unwillingly sent my brother into a fit of worry.

 _[If ?]_

 _[If what Hansuke ?]_

 _[Hansuke what's happening ?]_

I had never been more glad to have put my phone on vibrate so it wasn't constantly pinging my position to Shark with all of the texts Riichi was sending to me. I held it close to my chest as I waited to see what the thug would do next.

It took a long, drawn out moment, but Shark seemed to give up on searching for me in the crowds around him. Which would have been cause for celebration, if it hadn't been for him going straight into the store I was in. What a worse time for this guy to do some clothes shopping.

" _Fuuuck_ …" I was really dead now. Before he could get closer to where I was, I darted to a different rack more out of the way. Thankfully I wasn't spotted by Shark and the teen at the counter hardly seemed to care that I was basically crawling around on the floor.

 _[God ok I can't figure out which store I'm in because he's here now. It's just got a lot of clothes in it. He hasn't noticed me yet but I'm stuck and can't get out without him noticing me so please do something ?]_

I waited a minute, then another after that. Once three had passed, my patience ran out and the trembling in my fingers had returned.

 _[Riichi ?]_

 _[Riichi I swear to god]_

 _[Hurry the fuck up he's right here and I can't run anymore]_

 _[RIICHI]_

* * *

 **[ Riichi ]**

I had to admit that ignoring the string of messages Hansuke was suddenly sending me when I knew he was in peril was not one of my most brilliant moments. However, in my defense, while waiting for him to respond, I had spotted something much more interesting and - at the time - worthy of my attention.

Besides, many would do the same if they spotted a cute Tsukumo Yuuma strolling in the mall just ten feet away.

He wasn't alone either; by his side was some guy I hadn't seen before. Dark skin, dark hair, green eyes. They were walking towards me, talking casually about something I couldn't overhear. Yuuma had a small smile on his face and as soon as I set my eyes on it, I couldn't look away.

Kiyoshi was trying to show me his phone to my left, something about Hansuke most likely on it, but it didn't matter. My goal had switched from finding my brother to getting that smile to look my way.

"Yuuma!" I waved at him, leaving Kiyoshi behind me as I approached. "What a pleasant surprise to run into you here."

To say Yuuma seemed surprised as well was a bit of an understatement. He looked as if he had seen a ghost. "Oh, Riichi was it?" His tan skin was turning a bit of a sickly color and it had me furrowing my brows. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, just shopping," I responded with a wave of my hand, not even bothering to think of mentioning Hansuke and the situation that was still slipping my mind. "What about you?"

"Shopping…" It was like he wasn't fully into the conversation, his voice a bit far away. But before I could ask what was wrong, he beat me to it. "Vector hasn't… hasn't been bothering you, has he? Ever since you stepped in that time."

Ah, so he was worried about me? A pleasant warmth spread through my chest. "No, no, not at all!" I lied easily. A frown then came to me before I asked, "and you? He hasn't been forcing himself on you again?"

"No, I haven't seen much of him since you stopped him. I've been hanging out mostly with Alito." Yuuma gestured to the left of him at the guy I didn't recognize. "Have you two met?"

I shook my head and held out my hand for him. "I'm Riichi. Nice to meet you."

That was when I took note of his expression; his eyes narrowed and raked over me like he was sizing me up. He didn't reach out to take my offered hand and stood rigidly next to Yuuma. It wasn't until the said boy nudged his elbow into Alito's ribs did he move to finally accept my handshake. His grip did nearly break my bones, though.

"Nice to meet you, too," Altio gritted out with his teeth bared, like some kind of warning.

I was about to ask 'what the fuck is your problem' because, really, who greeted someone you just met like that, when an even stronger grip fastened itself onto my arm and pulled me from Alito's grasp. There was only a very brief flash of a phone screen that read _[WE NEED TO GO NOW]_ on it as way of explanation. I managed to throw a couple of goodbyes to Yuuma and the rude asshole before Kiyoshi had me dragged fully away from them.

"Kiyoshi, what the fuck-"

The phone was shoved back in my face and the message on it thoroughly shut me up. I'd rather not repeat the kind of language in it, though it did guilt trip me hard enough into getting back into the mission to save Hansuke.

* * *

 **[ Hansuke ]**

This was it; I was going to die.

Riichi had yet to respond back to me and even though Shark still hadn't spotted me ducking behind clothes, he was getting closer and closer to realizing I was a sitting duck ready to be stuffed. Sweat was pouring down my back and, to my horror, the cashier was even starting to take notice of me. They watched me crawl with a certain kind of impassive amusement and I wanted to shout at them to mind their own business and stop drawing attention to me.

Of course, I couldn't quite do that, so I did the second best thing and sent them withering glares whenever our eyes met.

Just when I was about to say 'fuck it' and run like hell for the exit - exhaustion be damned - my salvation came in the form of my phone buzzing.

 _[We have an idea of where u r_

 _Go by the entrance and we'll sneak u out_

 _Hang in there bro !]_

It was a stupid, plain plan that could go wrong in so many ways, but what else was I expecting from my twin? The only thing I could do was to trust that he was going to take this seriously and not fuck it up like he always did. So that meant I had to somehow make my way to the front of the shop without the blue haired asshole spotting me.

Easier said than done. That guy was invested in his clothes shopping; eyeing everything around him like he couldn't pick which section was the best (which would explain his poor taste in fashion).

And, of course, I also had to pick a simple, dumb plan of my own to follow through with Riichi's and that was to pick up a nearby shaggy jacket ( _definitely_ not my style) and a rather large hat to cover myself in a hasty disguise. It was so half assed, but it wasn't like my panicked brain could come up with something better.

Once I was sure the hat and jacket covered all my noticeable features, I took a glance around the store to see where everyone was.

The teen at the counter had finally deemed me too boring to keep watching and was scrolling through something on their phone lazily. Off to my right was Shark and was thankfully positioned so that his back was completely towards me. I used that to spring up from my crouched spot on the ground and start pretending I was another customer looking through the horrid clothes.

I made sure to keep my head down, though it didn't help the constant thought of _I'm going to die I'm going to die oh god he'll probably notice me any second now and pull out a knife and -_ I was sweating way too much to look any sort of casual, so I aimed my own back at Shark in hopes that he wouldn't spot the waterfall going down my face.

Despite my fears, however, a whole minute passed without anything happening to me. I could hear Shark's footsteps make their way a bit farther from me at a pace that told me he was still browsing. I didn't want to fucking chance a glance to see if he really had not noticed, so I remained rooted at one of the clothing racks, awaiting a sign that said Riichi and Kiyoshi had arrived to come save me.

 _Buzz_.

Oh, well, that wasn't that long of a wait.

I pulled out my phone and scanned the message over.

 _[Ok we're outside the store ur in !_

 _We see u in there_

 _God what the hell r u wearing ?]_

 _[Riichi this is not the time or place for this_

 _Just please get me that blue haired bastard is right behind me]_

 _[Jeez ok ok_

 _Can't blame a guy for trying to make jokes in a time of crisis_

 _Anyways, Kiyoshi is gonna go in to distract the blue ass_

 _Then i'll swoop in and get u out]_

Another plan too lacking in details and filled with plenty of opportunities to get killed. Though, the reason I went along so willingly with it without hesitation was more for the sake of finally getting out of the clothing store instead of not stopping to think of any better idea.

 _[All right just do it]_

Not ten seconds after I hit send, the sound of another person entering the store reached my ears. I had to stop myself from racing over to Kiyoshi in sheer relief and elation; it had felt like years since I had seen my dear friend.

He glanced at me then changed his course to walk in my direction. Along the way, he snatched a pair of sunglasses from a rack and as he passed me, grabbed the hat from my head as well. He fit those items on himself, making sure his face was covered fully, before aiming his destination back at Shark, who had yet to notice his presence and was debating between two equally ugly blue jackets.

Now was my chance. Kiyoshi stood firmly between me and the asshole so I could easily start to slip away. Poking through the entrance was Riichi and when he saw me, he gestured so violently for me to hurry the fuck up that he almost swung his hand into the door itself which would have alerted everyone in the store to our highly fuck-up-able plan. In reality, it only took around ten seconds for me to get to my brother, but it felt like hours with the panic licking at my feet in urgency.

"Took you long enough," I muttered to Riichi once I finally, _finally_ got to him. The slight relief I felt allowed me to let some of my bitterness to come back to me.

"Yeah, yeah, sorry for being so distracted all the time." I snorted at his petulant tone, but was overall glad that he was there. I would thank him later, however, because even though Shark was now looking with a befuddled gaze at Kiyoshi, there was no telling when his eyes would wander over to us.

"Let's get out of-"

 _ **BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP**_

A too loud alarm began blaring as soon as I stepped past the door, freezing everyone around us for a brief moment. Once that moment was over, however, the reason why the store security alarm was blaring at us hit me like a second, more powerful cry.

I was still wearing that fucking shaggy ass jacket I had put on for the disguise. The one I hadn't thought of taking off or paying for.

As quickly as I could, I stripped the offending piece of clothing off of me, but it was too late to fix anything. Shark had already snapped his head toward us, a darkening expression beginning to cloud up his face, while Kiyoshi stared at us with his mouth hanging open, like he couldn't believe we were dumb enough to let this happen.

(I couldn't really blame him for it).

" _Hey!_ " The teen at the cashier shouted, phone forgotten on the counter.

"Okay, we have to make a break for it," Riichi said, grabbing a hold on my shoulder. Before I could even get out an agreement, he was pulling me out of the store completely and back into the open space of the mall.

We could have made it out of there - out of Shark's reach - easily if we had kept running. Riichi and I knew the way to the nearest exit and how to loose someone out on the streets (we had done it once before with two jackasses on our tails, we could certainly do it again). But, we didn't keep running after we got out of that store.

Instead, we ran straight into a couple of security guards who had heard the hard-to-miss alarm still sounding from behind us. And even though I had ditched the jacket back in the store, they still grabbed us firmly by the arms and told us we were going to be detained. Because _of fucking course_ our luck had to run out at the worst possible moment and _of fucking course_ we would get arrested while running for our lives from an actual criminal. Riichi was already trying to (fruitlessly) persuade them into letting us go with that annoying whine of his. The guards only held us tighter.

As we were dragged off, I saw Shark watching us from the store entrance with a look that promised pain.

Suddenly, I wished we could stay with the tall, buff security guards for the rest of our lives.


End file.
